"I'm constantly distracted by my ambition, narcissism, vanity, desire, lust," says comedian Russell Brand in the latest Rolling Stone cover story. "I don't pretend to enjoy anonymity." After breaking out with the character Aldous Snow in the 2008 comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall not to mention a high-profile relationship with pop star Katy Perry, the 35-year-old comic genius better get used to even more attention, especially when Brand reprises his Snow character in the hilarious new movie Get Him to the Greek. (Check out racy footage from Brand's cover shoot below.)

Contributing editor Erik Hedegaard gets deep inside the warped mind of Brand to get one of the most comprehensive profiles of the comic genius yet. Brand opens up about everything from his rough working-class childhood ("[I was] tubby and unlovely and odd and obscure and bland," he says) to his battle with a debilitating drug addiction. Brand has since kicked his addictions, but that doesn't mean he doesn't still get his rocks off. "Whilst on tour, I masturbate a little bit, but not too much," Brand admits. "It's similar to the monkeys you see masturbating at the zoo, where it's like 'Zookeeper! Zookeeper! There's something wrong with that monkey! And then, of course, if you ejaculate onto yourself, there's that beautiful, transcendent, orgasmic moment of relief, then you walk to the bathroom, clean up and you catch yourself in the mirror and it's like, 'I don't know what you're looking at! Kings have done that!'"

With six feature films in the works, Brand is poised to supersaturate the country, but he still has some demons to overcome. "Going on a voyage of self-discovery isn't as exciting as getting your cock sucked while chomping on chocolate and playing Nintendo, is it?" Brand wonders. "Ultimately, it's more gratifying. And my life will be ascetic and about denial. But I'm not there yet, so the conflict continues."

Also in this issue: Matt Taibbi peers into Senate backrooms to show how Congress blew its chance to put a leash on Wall Street; the definitive guide to this season's 44 hottest tours, from Lady Gaga to Tom Petty to Kings of Leon; Sabrina Rubin Erdely investigates how three computer geeks pulled off the biggest cybercrime of all time; inside Roger Waters' plans to revive The Wall; a tribute to metal icon Ronnie Jamies Dio; and Rob Sheffield on why Glee triumphed, Idol stumbled, 30 Rock got even better and other lessons from this season of television.